Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all.

Well I'm pretty sure we are comeing close to our first shedding.

"My Boy" is a 12 inch baby black rat snake. Yesterday his colors seemed to "mute" or darken almost over night. I also noticed a couple of loose scales on top of his head.

Today his eyes have turned "bluish".

My question is this, He is in a 30 gallon glass tank. I have a heat pad under one end, with a slab of slate in the tank but over the heater too keep him from burning himself. Also, I have about an inch of substrate on top of that. I also have a lamp above the tank with a 25 watt red bulb on that side of the tank. The like is on from 8am till about 8pm. The pad is on all the time.

The top of the substrate temp is 85 during the day and about 80 at night. I have a waterdish on both ends of the tank.

My question is this, is the dish of water on the warm side enough for the humity? or should I add something like a wet wash cloth to the warm side untill he sheds?

thanks

Carrey

I think he'll be fine. If he needs more humidity, he'll probably soak in one of the water dishes. He should shed about 2-3 days after his eyes clear.

One thing of note regarding my black/Texas (intergrade) rat snake - she never liked to soak in her water dish, but for some reason loves soaking in a water-filled pickle jar! Usually before and after shedding, and after a meal, she takes a dip in her pickle jar. Don't know if that's just her personal preference, or whether there's some other advantage to a jar of water over a dish of water. But you could try putting a small glass jar of water in there. michaelb